Write!

When the year started, I had this resolution that I should start a blog to enhance my writing skill. I tried convincing myself that writing as much as I could would lead me somewhere. Well, that “somewhere” might not necessarily be a weekly column in a local daily; or the Daily Inquirer’s “Youngblood” section; or an on-line copy editing job. It could simply be a boost in my battered self-confidence.

Just a background, I never really believe that I am or can be a good writer. Every time I write something, whether it’s an office document or an academic paper (back then when I did my Master’s), I have this feeling that I am not good enough for the task. Always, always I hear this tiny voice inside me, telling me that someone is better...that my knowledge about the topic is not enough, and so I have no authority to write about it.

At one point, I tried ruling out the causes not just of my writing insecurities, but of all my insecurities in life. One possible cause was the fact that I was seldom appreciated by my parents when I was a child. I remember how Mama scolded me every time I got an imperfect score in quizzes and exams. One time also, when I reported to Papa that I was third placer in the class’ honor roll, I got a grimace. He said that being third placer was not good enough. But I don’t blame my parents. Certainly, they are products of their parents’ ways and eccentricities.

But going back to my resolution…the fighter in me will not readily give in to self-doubt and insecurity. I will try. And this blog is but a start. Who knows, someday, I might bear witness to the old cliché that goes, “writers are made, not born”.

(An original post at friendster | 19 February 2008)